An innovative team of physicians is growing a nose on the forehead of a 22-year-old Chinese man nicknamed "Xiaolian." Doctors plan to transplant it to the man's nasal cavity shortly.
After suffering a severe nasal trauma from a car accident last August, Xiaolian, whose real name was withheld, had chosen not to receive plastic surgery at the time, opting instead for basic medical remedy due to monetary concerns,
the New York Post reported.
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Within months, however, Xiaolian's nose became infected due to his not having received surgery immediately following the accident. As a result, his nasal cartilage began to corrode, which prevented surgeons from being able to perform surgery on his nose.
With surgery no longer being a viable option, surgeons in Fuzhou City, located in east China’s Fujian Province, decided to try a medical procedure never before attempted and grow a replacement nose on the patient's own forehead that would eventually be transplanted onto his naval cavity.
Physicians grew the nose by planting cartilage from Xiaolian's ribs underneath a skin tissue expander that was cut into the shape of a nose,
Australia's ABC News reported.
Physicians then monitored the nose's growth for the next nine months, as they prepared Xiaolian for the transplant.
"We have gone through the hardest step and now it is not difficult to carry out transplant surgery," said Guo Zhihui, Director of Plastic Surgery Department of Xiehe Hospital Affiliated to Fujian Medical University, the Post reported.
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Though it is unclear when the actual transfer will occur, surgeons expect it to happen in the near future.
According to Guo Zhihui, Xiaolian will have a normal life once a surgery is complete.
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